Once again, to thank the locals for being such good sports, the United States military used the occasion of the holiday weekend to slip into the Muslim World to say hi.
The Thing That Won’t Leave
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Obama wants to leave 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014. Except for a “contingency force,” which will stay longer. Then we’ll be gone. Well, not really.
Cuz Terrorists
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A federal court has ordered the Obama Administration to release secret videos showing force-feedings of Guantanamo hunger strikers. Could one of the highlights of these images include IVs being jammed into a detainee’s penis?
Bluster Bomb
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The United States government claims that there’s a distinction between the NSA’s wholesale collection of information by and about individuals and governments overseas, versus the Chinese army unit charged with industrial espionage against American companies. The rest of the world, however, isn’t buying it.
Bipartisanship Lives
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The USA Freedom Bill was presented as a means to rein in some of the NSA’s privacy violations. But when the Obama Administration asked nicely, a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans agreed to make the reform toothless and thus worthless. Who said bipartisanship was dead in Washington?
Abortions and Tattoos
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Joining Utah and South Dakota, the state of Missouri is quickly moving toward requiring a three-day waiting period for women seeking abortions. What is the logic behind this? Do they really think women aren’t thinking these decisions through?
Crypto-Corruption
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The Federal Election Commission has ruled that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies may be accepted by political candidates up to $100 per candidate per election. How will politicians adapt to a new form of influence selling and corruption?
9/11 Memory Hole
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13 years after the attacks, the 9/11 Memorial has opened at the site of Ground Zero. Among other criticisms, the facility has been drawing fire for an exorbitant $24 admission fee, behind which lie the remains of the victims of the attacks, thus monetizing their deaths. A gift shop will also sell T-shirts.
Equal Time for All Christians
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The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the town of Greece, New York did not violate the Constitution by opening its public meetings with prayers, even though the vast majority the chaplains involved were Christian. How would smug Christians feel if they lived in a nation where they were members of a religious minority?
The Climate Change Debate Explained
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A study from the National Climactic Data Center reveals that average temperatures have increased dramatically in areas where liberal media elites live, while dropping slightly in parts of the country dominated by conservatives. Which could explain why liberals and conservatives have such different opinions about climate change.
